National Geographic Archaeology Fellow Fred Hiebert was specially invited to go to Kabul to inventory the vault’s contents.

“I was just so anxious to know what was inside the boxes, so anxious to know, was this the Bactrian gold? Could I vindicate Victor, you know?

Here I had been living for all this time worried that Victor’s reputation had been ruined, you know, because there was no way to verify were this great treasure was. And now, we had that opportunity.”

(Super: Fredrik Hiebert, Archaeologist & National Geographic Fellow)

Narration:

Fred made sure his mentor, Victor Sarianidi, was there for the big event.

Source: Fred Hiebert interview “We had brought victor from his dig, interrupted the dig he was on in Turkmenistan. We had flown him in to see if he could confirm that these were definitely the real objects. Because we didn’t know how else. We had never seen these objects for so many years. We had thought he would be the best person.”

Fred Hiebert SOT:

“We got to the Presidential Palace, and they said, you have to wait. And we said, well, what are we waiting for? They said, there’s no keys to the boxes. We said, there are no keys to the boxes? They said, yes, the keys are with the key-holders and the key-holders are gone.”

Fred Hiebert SOT:

“The key-holders, they're called talwidars, are the keepers of the treasures of Afghanistan. And in this particular case, the key-holders were gone, and without the key-holders nobody in the country had the right to open the boxes.”

Narration:

Who the key-holders were, if indeed there was more than one, has never been revealed publicly.

So president Karzai had to issue a decree authorizing the attorney general to open the boxes.

Fred Hiebert :

"My heart was just trembling. I was worried about the gold. I was worried about the artifacts. I was worried about everything."

Man SOT:

"This is the first piece."

Narration:

…after being hidden for a generation, there it was…a golden floret hairpin Dr. Sarianidi pulled from the earth years ago.

"It’s like seeing an old friend again after 25 years. You didn’t even know if he is still alive. And now you realize he is right here waiting for you."

(Super: Victor Sarianidi, archaeologist)

Fred Hiebert SOT:

“And there it was, intact. It was as if the heart of Afghanistan had been given back. It was a really important moment.”

(Super: Fredrik Hiebert, Archaeologist & National Geographic Fellow

Narration:

Thanks to Victor Sarianidi and Fred Hiebert’s efforts, the treasure will go on tour in Spring of 2008 as part of a National Geographic exhibition.

And as for those who kept the gold’s secret, they remain the heroes of this treasure. Their quiet dedication to preserve their cultural heritage and history saved it from plunder.